Too Attached?
As internet services expand, co-op poles take on greater responsibility by Preston Knight, Communication Manager
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all it a midspan crisis. As life changing as the advent and growth of rural electric lines and poles were in the 1930s, the ensuing decades would reveal the build-out did not account for everything the world would become. This has led to today’s conundrum for electric co-ops and their sought-after infrastructure. “Fiber internet just wasn’t a thing when this stuff was built,” says Josh Good, SVEC’s joint use supervisor, who oversees outside entities seeking to attach to co-op poles. On a recent drive along county back roads, Good surveyed the landscape with a checklist of poles to measure, as part of internet service providers’ planned expansion of broadband service across the Valley. Specifically, he needed to compute the “sag” — how much a line drops — in the middle of a span of electric wire between two poles. Good has to determine if attaching more wire or cable from a telecommunications (internet in this case, but it could be telephone or TV) company would meet regulations set by the National Electrical Safety Code, among other standards, for how much an electric line can sag near the ground, objects Josh Good, SVEC’s joint use or other supervisor, places a label on a co-op pole. This can wires. be part of his daily routine In to identify the condition some of poles that outside instances, companies seek to attach to.
potential new attachments will either add too much weight, reducing a pole’s ability to withstand wind or ice load, or not meet the required clearance levels to be compliant with safety regulations. A new pole set between two existing ones, or taller poles to replace existing ones, might be required to accommodate the additional attachments. This is known as “make-ready” work for SVEC, which can be the most laborintensive and expensive component for making co-op infrastructure ready for outside companies that want to attach to poles. There’s a record amount of makeready work today as requests to attach to SVEC’s poles have surged. “It’s nothing necessarily new except for the scale of requests is by far the most we’ve ever seen,” says Chris Strecky, manager of field services and data analytics, “and it’s going to continue to increase in the near future.” It would be easier for everyone involved if poles set decades ago kept in mind the potential for the wonders of broadband internet. There must have been a supply chain shortage of crystal balls back then. The alternative now is how SVEC’s engineers approach the situation. They offer the best make-ready options to accommodate the growing number of requests for attachments, while keeping a keen eye on fulfilling the co-op’s mission of providing safe and reliable electric service at the best possible value. LOOKING OUT FOR MEMBERS’ BOTTOM LINE As Good makes his route, it’s important to understand he’s doing so representing SVEC for what it is, an electric provider. The co-op is not an internet service provider and does not plan to be one. That leaves other
16 • Cooperative Living • November-December 2023
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Not every wire on a co-op pole carries electricity. Requests to attach to SVEC’s equipment have skyrocketed recently as telecommunications companies look to expand their services.
Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative
10/17/23 1:09 PM